Is My Hair Grayin, Yet?
by ILovePepsi2
Summary: After their parent's deaths, Darry has to raise a 16 year old Sodapop, and a 6 month old Ponyboy. My first story, so go easy!
1. Chapter 1

**Wow, my first FanFiction.** **So exciting. I hope you like it :^) **

**NO FLAMES! I'll appreciate constructive criticism though. I'm not sure if I should continue this, so tell me in a review if you think I should. This is just a basic, **_**What if Pony were a baby when his parents died**_** story. I'm not a 100% sure on some of the medical stuff I'll put in here, so don't hold it against me. :^) I Hope you enjoy it. **

_Prologue_

Darry's P.O.V.

When mom and dad told us they were going to have another baby, no one really got excited. Of course, Mom was ecstatic. She couldn't wait to have the baby. I think she missed having a little kid running around. You know, someone to take care of? Dad was happy too. He hardly saw the bad in anything, only the good. He didn't see the bad thing of being 45 with two sons (who were 15 and 19 at the time) and another baby on the way. He didn't see that he could hardly feed a family of four, and certainely couldn't feed a family of five! He didn't see that babys cost money-and a lot of it!

Of course, I didn't think about all this a year ago. I thought about how babies cry _all the time,_ and wake you up in the middle of the night. I thought about all the dirty diapers I might have to change. I thought about some snot nosed brat following me everywhere.

I think Sodapop, my brother, thought about this too, but there was no way he would let anyone see that. He acted all excited around Mom and Dad, but those happy smiles didn't reach his eyes.

The gang, I think, wasn't too happy either. Since they all practically _live_ at my house, they didn't like the thought of some baby crawlin' around. Well, I don't think Johnny minded. I think he was just happy to have a couch to sleep on when things get to rough at home. I don't think Two-Bit cared much either, he had a little sister of his own. When I asked Dallas what he thought, he just said, "As long as it doesn't tough me, I'm cool with it." And that just left Steve, who hated kids altogether.

But then the baby came and all my thoughts changed.

We were at the hospital while Mom was in labor.

"Darry, Sodapop," my Dad said coming out into the waiting room, grinning, "would you like to meet your new baby brother?"

Soda grinned his happy-go-lucky grin and I nodded eagerly. I didn't know how I felt then, I still don't know, but I knew I was excited. Who wouldn't be excited to see their new brother? Even with the situation it would be hard not to. Dad took us to the room that Mom had the baby in. I saw my mother sitting on a bed looking beautiful despite the sweat coming down her forehead and the dampness in her hair. She was holding a squirming baby wrapped in a blue blanket in arms. She looked up at us and beamed, "Would you like to hold your new brother?"

"Yes," I nodded and went over to her slowly, staring at the little baby. He had little tuffs of red hair on his head, and his eyes were closed. He was really little and pink, but the docters said that was normal due to being 2 weeks early. I couldn't help but think _He's adorable._

Mom gently placed him in my arms. I looked down at him fondly.

"What's his name?" Soda said as he came to my side to check out the baby.

"Ponyboy." My parents said together.

"Ponyboy?" Soda asked incredulously.

They nodded.

"Ponyboy..." I tried the name out. It fit him. As if the Ponyboy were used to his name, he opened his eyes. Two green orbs starred up at us in wonder.

"Hi, Ponyboy." whispered Soda quietly, "I'm Sodapop."

Ponyboy made some strange baby news that sounded like, "Grrglll um ump blaaaaah!" his little arms waving up at me. I thought how I could ever think that this child would be a whiney brat. He was perfect. "I'm love you, Ponyboy. And I'll never stop." I told him softly.

"Can I hold him?" Soda asked.

"Yeah... yeah, sure." I carefully put Ponyboy in Sodapop's arms. He grinned down at the baby and the baby grinned back up. I couldn't help but grin too.

Maybe we could make this work, I thought. Soda had quit his school and worked at the DX, so he was bringing in money, I was roofing to get money for collage, but I don't mind sharing with my parents. Dad worked some too, and Mom would stay home and take care of him.

We could make this work.

But six months later, Mom and Dad died.

And I was had a 16 year old Sodapop, and half a year old Ponyboy to take care of.

xxxxxxxxxxx

**So, yeah, that's it. Should I continue? Tell me in a review. I will thank ALL of those who review my story (except if its a flame) even if your not logged in, or don't have an account. R&R Please (NO FLAMES, but I'll take constructive criticism)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, my second post. It was really exciting to see my story in print. Thank you so much to my reviewers! (who will be at the bottom) I was really surprised by all the reviews I got! Thank you so much! :^D Hey, I recently found out that after the Outsiders movie, they made a short series of it. It's on Youtube if you wanna watch it, but before you do, you should know that they didn't keep the same actors. :'( that's right, no Rob Lowe! I'll give you the link to the first episode if you wanna watch it. **

_**.com/watch?v=v8HnOpUBFeM**_

**No flames, but I'll take constructive criticism.**

**I don't own the Outsiders, I forgot to say that in my last time (woops!). If I did though, Cherry would die a slow, painful death :)**

Chapter 1:

Darry's P.O.V.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-_

I slammed my hand down on the alarm clock and considered throwing it out the window for waking me up. I probably would of to, if I hadn't realized two things:

1. Alarm clocks cost money. (Money that I don't have)

and

2. I had suddenly realized _why_ the alarm clock was ringing and realized, once again, that I was late for work.

I rushed out of bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth, and went to wake up Soda.

_Please be awake. Please be awake. Please be awake. _I thought as I marched to Soda and Pony's room. Pony had originally slept in my room, but he kept me waking me up in the middle of the night screaming his head off. Finally, Soda moved Pony's crib into his room saying that he didn't want Pony to wake me up so much that I might get tired at work and fall of a roof.

Bless him.

A couple of days after sleeping in Soda's room, the screaming stopped. He still cried in the night sometimes, which was normal for an 8 month old.

I opened the door to their room and found Soda sprawled out on his bed, Pony on top of his stomache, his little hands clutching Soda's shirt like a life preserver. Soda had his hands on Pony's back and head, making sure he wouldn't fall off. I couldn't help but smile to myself at this little seen as I shook Soda awake, "Hey, little buddy... wake up."

"Hmmp, Daaar, laoff..." Soda mumbled, shifting in position, which made Ponyboy wake up. He looked up at me with sleepy, green eyes. "Hey, Pony, time to get up." He wiggled around on Soda and reached his arms up to me. I scooped him up and nudged Soda again. "Soda, get up."

"Gaaaaaaah..." He mumbled more as he rolled over on his belly, " 'ive more mints?" I took that as 'Five more minutes?' and said,

"No, get up!"

"Grrr..." (did he just... growl?) "Fine..." He got up and went to the bathroom.

Pony squirmed in my arms and stuck his thumb in his mouth. I mentally frowned. Pony's been sucking on his thumb a lot lately. It's been worring me. But I put those thoughts in the back of my mind. "You hungry, Ponyboy?" I asked as I ran my hands down his belly. He squealed and giggled as I tickled him. "I thought so."

I went into the kitchen and put Pony in his highchair. I put some eggs in the frying pan and started making breakfast. I heard the shower turn on and hoped Soda would be out soon. If he wasn't, I'd probably be late for work.

Again.

Pony banged his fists against the tray attached to his high chair and shouted, "BABABABABABABABABA!" almost furiously. Pony had started to say little words lately, like 'ba' and 'da' and 'pa'. I figurered out that 'ba' meant bottle or food.

"Hold on, little man," I told him as I got out some milk. I put it in the microwave and finished making the eggs.

Not even 10 seconds had passed when I put the eggs and some chocolate cake on the table, when Two-Bit barged in. "HELLO, CURTIS'S!" He said as he slammed the front door, "WHAT'S GOIN'-Hey, is that chocolate cake?" He marched into the kitchen, his gray eyes twinkling. He cut him self a big slice and sat down on a chair next to Ponyboy. "Hey kid," He said ruffling Pony's hair as he took a bite out of his cake.

Pony grinned and bounced up and down in the chair, "Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba!"

Two-Bit grinned, showing us the chocolate all over his teeth.

"Ewww! Two-Bit!" Soda said, coming out of the bathroom fully dressed, "Cover your mouth!"

The microwave beeped and I took the milk out. I put it in Pony's favorite 'sippy cup', which has a bunch of tuff looking cars on it and gave it to him. Soda poured some cereal on his tray and Pony dug in.

"Soda," I said glancing at the clock, "we have five minutes."

" 'kay, 'Ar!" He said with a mouth full of cake.

"Two-Bit, can you take Pony to your moms today? We're kinda running late..." I asked the red headed imbecile who was trying to see how much cake he could fit in his mouth at once. He nodded. I hated having to depend on other people to do things for me, but I wanted to get to work on time.

Ever since... the 'accident' as we like to call it... we've been taking Ponyboy to Two-Bit's Mom's while we worked. The Social Workers said the only way we can keep Pony is if one of us quit worked and stayed home with him full time, or if we found him a decent babysitter. We needed all the money we could get, so we had to go with option two. Two-Bit's mom, who was best friends with our mom, stepped in and said she'd be happy to do it. For free.

I love that woman.

"You done yet, Soda?" I asked.

"Almost. Have you seen my shoes?" Soda asked, looking under the couch.

"Are they in your room?"

He gave me a confused look, "Why would they be in there?"

"Just go look."

He shrugged and went to go check.

I went over to Pony, who had just finished his breakfast and was whining to get out. I picked him up and put him on the floor in the living room in front of the TV. Seconds later Two-Bit went in and plopped down on the couch. Pony crawled over to him and tugged on his pant leg and reached his arms out. Two-Bit sighed, but picked him up and put him on his knee. Pony didn't like that position so he snuggled up to Two-Bit's chest and started sucking his thumb. I smirked and Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, challenging me to say something. I didn't

Soda ran into the living room, shoes on thankfully, went over and planted a big kiss on Pony's head, "See'ya at four, Pony." Pony giggled, loving the attention that Soda gave him. I ruffled his red hair and said to Two-Bit, "Make sure Pony gets to your Mom's by eight, got it?" He nodded, then became engrossed in the Mickey Mouse episode that was playing on TV.

"Come on, Soda, I'll drop you of at the DX."

He flashed me his famous grin, "Can I drive?"

"No."

"Pleaaaaase, Dare?"

"No!"

He gave me the puppy dog eyes and I couldn't help but hand him the keys. "Don't run over the mailbox."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

_5:13 p.m._

_Darry's P.O.V._

I got home from roofing exactly 3 minutes late. (Yes... I count the minutes 'til I get to go home...) I walked into the house and saw the whole gang hangin' out in the living room. Pony was on Soda's lap while Soda was tickling him saying, "Who's my Babyboy?" Pony squealed with delight. Johnny and Two-Bit were watching, amused, while Dallas and Steve played poker.

"I'm home." I said as I took off my toolbelt.

"Hey, Darry. Have a good day?" Soda asked, putting Pony on the ground.

I shrugged, "Have you started supper yet?"

"Uhhh..." He said, "... maybe!" He dashed of to the kitchen. I sighed.

Pony crawled over to me and started tugging at my pant leg, wanting my attention. I picked him up and he wrinkled his nose. "What?" I asked him, "Oh, do I smell?"

"Woaa! Get a load of Darry!" Two-Bit smirked, waving his hand in front of his face. "Staaankaaay! But not as stinky of what_ Pony _did today! Man that was _disgusting!_ I didn't even know you could _do_ that!"

Steve snickered and Dallas smirked. Johnny and I just wrinkled our noses. I looked at Pony and he just stared at me innocently. I put him back down, and took a quick shower.

The whole gang stayed for dinner. We were having meatloaf, purple mashed potatoes, and peas.

The sound of forks (Oh who am I kidding? No one here uses forks!) was the only thing heard for a couple seconds then Two-Bit said to me, "Oh, Darry, Ma told me to give this to you. Said she saw the kid suckin' on his thumb and thought this would help." He dug something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

It was a blue pacifier.

That was in Two-Bit's pocket.

Ew.

But still, that was a really nice thing to do, I would have to give her some money for this later. "Thanks, Two-Bit. We'll see if this works after dinner... and after I wash it." He grinned, showing all of us some meatloaf on his teeth.

"Ewww! Two-Bit!"

XxXxXxXxXxX

I sat Pony on my lap and gave him the pacifier. He looked at it, then looked back up at me, confused.

"Darry," Soda said from my side, "I think you'll have to show him how to use it."

"I'm not putting that thing in my mouth. He'll figure it out."

"Darry."

"Soda."

"Darry."

"Soda."

_"Darry!"_

"You do it then!" I said as I took the pacifier away from Pony, and gave it to Soda.

He looked at me uncertainly, then looked around the room. The whole gang was grinning at him, even Johnny.

"Ughhh... I don't want to do it with them watching!"

"They won't laugh, right guys?" They all nodded innocently.

"Oh, fine!" Soda stuffed it in his mouth. The gang laughed loudly.

Pony tilted his head to the side, still confused.

"Soda," I said smugly, trying to keep a straight face, "he's still confused. You have to _suck_ on it."

The pacifier gently rocked back and forth in Soda's mouth. The gang laughed louder. "Hold on!... Lemme..." Two-Bit said between fits of giggles, "get the camera!" Two-Bit stumbled away to find the camera.

Soda spit it out, blushing furiously, and started to whip the spit on his shirt. He gave it to Pony. Pony looked up at him and at the pacifier, then back up at him. Soda pointed to his mouth. There was a pause, then Ponyboy stuffed the pacifier in his mouth. He was hesitant at first, but then started sucking on it furiously.

Two-Bit came into the room with our Mom's old camera. He snapped a picture of Pony and said to Soda, "I'll give you 5 dollars if you put that back in your mouth for a picture."

Soda glared at him, "I'll give _you_ 5 _seconds_ to run!" Two-bit laughed, and charged around the house, Soda behind him.

I sighed.

They better not break anything.

**Thanks to my reviewers:**

**goldengreaser,**

**Rubberdu3ky,**

**minato4ever,**

**heyitsmeXD,**

**Diehardoutsider, (congrats on the baby!)**

**SilverPantherSM,**

**v-babe,**

**sprinkle92,**

**Johnnyismygoldsunset,**

**Aunna,**

**Jamama, **

**CoolestCatEver,**

**and**

**KyleLover101**

**(sorry if I spelt anything wrong!)**

**I really appreciated all of your reviews! They made my day! Any reviews on this will be thanked, even if your not logged in, or you don't have an account, I will thank you. (except if it's a flame!) I tried to make this extra long as a treat, because my prolonge was so short! (it was really embarrassing!) I don't plan on making this really dramatic, I just plan on focusing on the family. Tell me what'cha think R&R! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I'M VERY SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING! I had a lot of stuff to do last weekend and I never got around to it, and last week I had finals. Good news? It's summer vacation so I can update quicker now! Yaaay!**

**I'm VERY sorry about the microwave thing too. I **_**DID **_**look it up on Google, but I guess I didn't look hard enough... Anyway sorry. I'll try and be more careful, and I'll look harder when I'm not sure about something. **

**Anyway, here's the story!**

**Chapter 3**

**Darry's P.O.V.**

Ponyboy nearly gave me a heart attack last night.

It was around two in the morning and I woke up to a piercing scream that came from Soda and Pony's room. I shot out of bed and went to see what happened. I found Soda standing up, a worried espression on his face, holding a screaming Pony in his arms.

"Soda, what happened?" I asked, rushing to his side.

"I don't know, Darry!" Soda said, getting frantic, "He just started screaming!"

He bounced Pony up and down in his arms, trying to get him to calm down. Pony whimpered a little bit, then put on his _I'm-really-sad-and-cute-so-hug-me-face_ before putting his thumb in his mouth. He dug his face into the crook of Soda's neck. Soda rubbed his back comfortingly in responce.

"Is the kid ok?" Two-Bit said from the door frame. He had stayed the night saying that it was the_ 'That time of the month' _for his mother, and he didn't want anything to do with that. Johnny had stayed the night too because it was too cold to sleep in the lot. "I heard some screamin'..." He said sleepily, his eyes tired but I could tell his was a little worried.

"Yeah... well, he will be," I told him, "Soda, take Pony into the kitchen so we can get him some milk. That'll put him to sleep."

Soda nodded and we went into the kitchen. I heated some milk on the stove **(see? no more microwaves!) **as Soda sat down at the table, Pony in his arms. Two-Bit sat down across from him.

"Wazgoin'on?" Said Johnny, who had just woken up from the couch.

"Oh, nothing important," Two-Bit said jokingly, "Pony here just started screamin' bloody murder..."

Johnny's eyes widened, "What? Is he ok?"

Soda answered, "Yeah, he's alright, Johnny. I think he must be gettin' sick or somethin'..."

"I don't think he's sick, Soda." I said as I took the milk off the oven, "If he was, he would of woken up crying, not screaming." I handed him the bottle. He switched Pony's position so he could feed him.

"Why would he be screamin' then?" Soda asked, his eyes not leaving our baby brother.

"Maybe he got scared or something? I don't know, Soda." I sat down by him and we sat in silence, the only sound was Pony sucking milk from the bottle.

I couldn't help but think about how tired I was. It was around two in the morning, and I had to work tomorrow. I put my head in my hands and sighed softly.

Two-Bit, seeing my tiredness, said, "Hey, Darry, you and Sodapop should go back to bed. Me and Johnny here'll put Pony back to sleep."

I shook my head, "Two-Bit-"

He cut me off, "Darry. Go to bed. Pony's calmed down some, he'll be fine." I sighed and stood up. I was very tired and sleeping sounded very good at that moment. "You too, Soda." I heard Two-Bit said in a _that's final_ tone. Two-Bit can be very... ehh 'pushy' when he wanted to. Soda nodded and kissed Pony's forehead. He handed him over to Two-Bit and said, "If he starts cryin' again, come woke me up, got it? I won't mind."

Two-Bit nodded.

And as Soda and I headed of to our rooms, I couldn't help but think, _If Two-Bit screws up, I'm kicking his-_

**(This is rated K, so no cursing :'( )**

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Two-Bit's P.O.V.

"Why do you think Pony started screamin'?" Johnny asked me from his side of the couch. Pony had finished his bottle a couple minutes ago and he still hasn't fallen asleep. Johnny and I took him into the living room to try and calm him down. He was currently on Johnny's lap, sniffling and occasionally whining for attention.

"I don't know. Maybe there was a spider in his crib." I replied.

"...Two-Bit..." Johnny said slowly, "I don't think a spider would scare a 8 month old..."

"Really? I would scream if there was a spider in my crib."

"You don't sleep in a... never mind." Johnny dropped the subject and started rocking Pony on his lap a little bit. Let me just say that Johnny isn't a softy, no one in the gang is. But when dealing with an (some might say 'adorable') 8 month old who's lost his parents... it's actually kind of hard_ not _to cuddle him.

"What do _you _think happened then?" I asked Johnny.

"I don't know..." He replied, scrunching his eyebrows together. Pony yawned and cuddled up to Johnny's chest. This didn't seem to faze Johnny. "Maybe he had a nightmare?"

I shrugged, "Maybe..."

A couple minutes later, Pony fell asleep. Johnny took him back to Soda's room. When he came back, I let him sleep on the couch and I got a pillow and layed down on the floor.

I fell asleep in seconds.

**Ok, so that is my third chapter. I know it's kinda of short, but I've had some Writer's Block and I didn't get that far. I wanted to update today and this is all I could come up with. I'll try and make the next chapter really long though. :^) Again, I'm VERY SORRY for not updating! I plan on updating early next week. I can't this weekend because I'm goin' to Lousiana with my family :^D This chap seems more... dramatic... but don't worry, I plan on adding LOTS of fluff and adorable-Ponyboy-cutness. Any ideas? I have a lot, but I want to see if you guys have any. In the book, Pony woke up screaming from nightmares, and this is sort of what happened. The only difference is Pony is 8 months old and doesn't know what the heck is happening... **

**Thanks to all my reviewers:**

**Johnnyismygoldensunset**, _**Astiosis (thanks for the advice! I appreciate your Constructive critism),**_** Sky, **_**Universal School Chick, **_**Don't forget Hope**, _**Nishi911**_**, minato4ever**, _**BACKINBLACK5612**_**, smileyface1627,**_** v-babe**_**, heyitsmeXD, **_**Diehardoutsider**_**, Kitty Ghost, **_**treesaresnazzy, **_**Aunna, **_**KyleLover101 (Everyone check out Kylelover's 'Raising Ponyboy' Story! It's really cute! :* I love it!), **_**purpleprincessparty, **_**Celtic Angel18**_**, igotsaflobbit, **_**AbbyIsWhatWeAimFor, **_**Rosebud5 and, **_**Sodapopsgirl4ever **_**(sorry if I mispelled any of your names!) I appreciate all of your reviews! I got so many I was very overwhelmed! **

**I plan on getting a beta soon (does anyone know who to do that?) so please excuse all spelling errors. R&R please :^)**


End file.
